Connect with your social network account

This section is for discussions with other women who have probably been through the same signs/symptoms that you may be experiencing. Please note, we cannot offer medical advice and encourage members to discuss their concerns with their doctors. New members, come on in and introduce yourself!

Hi Maggie, sorry to hear you had such a traumatic experience. Sometimes we forget that these types of situations can be traumatic for the doctors too, and they can also be scared of going through it again with us as patients. I would really encourage you to get a second opinion from a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) doc specializing in high risk pregnacies before making a decision about whether or not to have more children. https://www.smfm.org/

They should be able to test you for any potential underlying disorders and give you more input on your odds of reoccurence or how closely any subsequent pregnacies should be monitored. I have known women with really traumatic first pregnancies and deliveries go on to have healthy second pregnancies, but I have also known women who have decided they were too traumatized or that their personal risks were too high for them to be comfortable trying again.

I hope this helps, welcome to the forums.[/quote]

Yeah it was a traumatic experience for all of us...not quite sure what we will do with having more kids. At this point we are both traumatized but who knows what the future brings. We will look into the website though. Thank you so much!

This group of physicians have taken every thing away from me...It has been advised we never have children again.

Hi Maggie, sorry to hear you had such a traumatic experience. Sometimes we forget that these types of situations can be traumatic for the doctors too, and they can also be scared of going through it again with us as patients. I would really encourage you to get a second opinion from a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) doc specializing in high risk pregnacies before making a decision about whether or not to have more children. https://www.smfm.org/

They should be able to test you for any potential underlying disorders and give you more input on your odds of reoccurence or how closely any subsequent pregnacies should be monitored. I have known women with really traumatic first pregnancies and deliveries go on to have healthy second pregnancies, but I have also known women who have decided they were too traumatized or that their personal risks were too high for them to be comfortable trying again.

Hi Maggie,
Welcome to the forums.I am sorry you went through such a difficult delivery and got so sick afterwards. That is awful. I am very glad to hear that you are feeling better and that things are improving every day.

Many of us really struggle to cope with pre-eclampsia and its effects on us and our kids. This forum helped me cope with the aftermath in a few ways. I learned a lot about the technical/medical details of what happened to me. I also learned that feeling incredibly sad, angry, deprived, and whatever else was normal after pre-eclampsia. I needed some counseling to really come to terms with it, and that seems to help many of the women here. I wanted to do something to help other womens, and the Pre-eclampsia Foundation has volunteer and awareness activities that help us feel like we are making a difference. I strongly second Julija's suggestion to do something that makes YOU feel better. We have no control over pre-E, but we can do things that we loved before pregnancy or take up new hobbies that make us happy or in control. Finally, this board gave me some perspective on what happened to me. My daughter and I went through a difficult year, but we are both healthy now. I am very grateful for that.

I am not sure that I can give you any helpful advice. I can only tell you what worked for me. I had to understand what happened (I am a scientist, and I like details). Then, I had to realize that my reaction to it was pretty normal, and that this reaction wasn't good for me or my family. I got some help from a counselor, and took up some new activities that made me feel like I had some control over my life. I decided to run a half marathon and start riding my bike again to convince myself that my body could be good for something. It took a while, but I got through it. We are here if you need support on your journey through this.

Thank you so much for writing about your experience...this has been very difficult for both me and my husband. I am not sure how to deal with this other than to seek out why it happened and try to prevent it from happening to another mom and baby. This group of physicians have taken every thing away from me...It has been advised we never have children again. I am really just mad and upset....reading others stories has really helped. We are looking into getting our story out there and then help others! When we get through this initial phase we will be looking to volunteer for others! Thanks for writing me back!

Hi Maggie,
Welcome to the forums.I am sorry you went through such a difficult delivery and got so sick afterwards. That is awful. I am very glad to hear that you are feeling better and that things are improving every day.

Many of us really struggle to cope with pre-eclampsia and its effects on us and our kids. This forum helped me cope with the aftermath in a few ways. I learned a lot about the technical/medical details of what happened to me. I also learned that feeling incredibly sad, angry, deprived, and whatever else was normal after pre-eclampsia. I needed some counseling to really come to terms with it, and that seems to help many of the women here. I wanted to do something to help other womens, and the Pre-eclampsia Foundation has volunteer and awareness activities that help us feel like we are making a difference. I strongly second Julija's suggestion to do something that makes YOU feel better. We have no control over pre-E, but we can do things that we loved before pregnancy or take up new hobbies that make us happy or in control. Finally, this board gave me some perspective on what happened to me. My daughter and I went through a difficult year, but we are both healthy now. I am very grateful for that.

I am not sure that I can give you any helpful advice. I can only tell you what worked for me. I had to understand what happened (I am a scientist, and I like details). Then, I had to realize that my reaction to it was pretty normal, and that this reaction wasn't good for me or my family. I got some help from a counselor, and took up some new activities that made me feel like I had some control over my life. I decided to run a half marathon and start riding my bike again to convince myself that my body could be good for something. It took a while, but I got through it. We are here if you need support on your journey through this.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so sorry you had such a rough time and came so close to losing your life. It can take a while to heal and come to terms with such a traumatic pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum period. Whatever helps to feel better, consider doing it (e.g. I started horse-back riding at the tender age of 38 )
Sending you hugs.

Thank you so much! Each day is getting better especially looking at that little miracle of mine!

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so sorry you had such a rough time and came so close to losing your life. It can take a while to heal and come to terms with such a traumatic pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum period. Whatever helps to feel better, consider doing it (e.g. I started horse-back riding at the tender age of 38 )
Sending you hugs.

Hi! I am new to this forum but really want to get my story out so no other family has to suffer through this awful disease process with the possibility of losing their live and the life of their newborn!
I found out last March that I was pregnant and was elated beyond words! My husband and I had been trying to start a family for quite sometime! I had absolutely no morning sickness and did not gain much weight at all. Each MD appointment went well until I got to my 30th week gestation appointment. The machine checking my blood pressure read it as being mildly elevated as did the manual blood pressure check. I was started on Labatelol 100 mg twice a day, blood checked for protein levels and sent home with a jug to check my urine for 24 hours. I went back the next week and my blood pressure was again elevated...my meds were not changed but was told to collect another sample of urine and to go on modified bedrest. This order of bedrest was never explained to me nor was I told how dangerous preeclampsia was to both myself and my son. I went back in the following Monday and each ultrasound, non-stress test that was done demonstrated that my son was going to need to be delivered emergently. The MD told my placenta had stopped nourishing him and it was now an emergency. He was born at 32w +5 days gestation. After my horrific C-section, I was taken to the post-partum floor and Magnesium was started for 24 hours to prevent me from having seizures. I did okay until 2 days later when I developed the worst headache I have ever had. my husband and I both told the post-partum nurses that I was really hurting and it kept being swept under the rug...here is some Tylenol take that and shut up basically is how I felt. Each time I stood up I was light-headed and woosy but this too was dismissed. I told the nurses that each time I walked in the hallway I could hear a loud wooshing sound in my ears. Again nothing. I vomited in the hallway and this too was dismissed. My blood pressure was checked 2 or 3 times a day and it never was controlled. It would be high then be around normal range and again high. My labatelol was just increased instead of the doctors looking into why my blood pressure was high and head felt like it was going to pop off of my head. The 4th day came and I was told that my blood pressure would come down but would take sometime. They told me to go home and come back the beginning of the next week for a blood pressure check. The nurse never went over my discharge instructions and I was shoved into the car with my husband to take care of me. I rode home in a stupor and nearly crying from my head hurting so bad. Saturday came and the only thing I was able to do was visit my son for a short period of time before I got sick again and had to go home. I was beyond words depressed. I could not do anything but sleep--which was the only time I got relief!
The next morning I woke up and sat up in bed when I screamed for my husband and lost consciousness. I woke up with a half dozen EMT's in my room yelling at me. I had a grand-mal seizure that had lasted btw 2-5 min. They transported me to the hospital where I had 2 more partial seizures before the magnesium was begun...They also did a CT scan and a MRI which showed I had had a venous thrombosis in my brain. I had a stroke with significant bleeding. I was transported to another hospital where they handle strokes on a regular basis. I was away from my newborn preemie son and husband for 2 1/2 weeks. Everything was taken from me all because these nurses could not take the time to properly monitor me and really look into why I was having these headaches and my blood pressure was spiking! I came very close to dying and just want there to be a better understanding of this disease process.